Wireless networks are typically advantageous over their wired counterparts, because they eliminate the need for stringing lengths of wire around a network site. This is especially useful in a home or enterprise security system in which multiple surveillance cameras and various sensors may be strategically placed around, both inside and outside, the home or office. Wireless networks further have the advantage that they cannot be easily circumvented by merely cutting the wired connections to network devices.
FIG. 1 illustrates, as an example, a block diagram of a wireless (e.g., WiFi) network 10 as commonly found in homes. A modem 11 is adapted to access the Internet through a broadband Internet Service Provider (ISP). A WiFi router 13 is wire-connected (indicated by solid line) to the modem 11 through an Ethernet cable 14. Alternatively, a device combining the functions of the modem 11 and the WiFi router 13 may be used. A computer 12 may be wire-connected to the WiFi router 13 through another Ethernet cable 18. WiFi enabled devices are wirelessly connected (indicated by dotted lines) to the WiFi router 13 using, for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard for WiFi communications. Examples of such WiFi enabled devices include continuously connected devices such as a WiFi enabled camera 15 and a WiFi enabled sensor 17. A general WiFi enabled device 16 is also shown which may be a continuously connected device, such as a WiFi enabled printer, or a temporarily connected device such as a laptop computer, tablet computer, or mobile phone.
Many WiFi enabled devices such as a laptop computer, tablet computer, or mobile phone, provide a user interface in the form of a display and keypad so that connecting these devices to an established WiFi network is reasonably easy as long as the user has the WiFi key readily available. In particular, the user interface provides means for a user to select an available WiFi network to connect to and means for the user to enter a WiFi key (also referred to as a network password) to access the selected WiFi network. The WiFi key may be generated according to either Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or WiFi Protected Access (WPA). However, some WiFi enabled devices do not have such a user interface. Adding these WiFi enabled devices to an established WiFi network is a much more challenging task. Many less experienced end users may find it too challenging and eventually return such WiFi enabled devices back to their point of purchase in frustration after multiple unsatisfactory attempts to make a workable connection.
FIG. 2 illustrates, as an example, a block diagram of wired-connections that may be used for adding the WiFi enabled camera 15 to the WiFi network 10. In this example, the WiFi enabled camera 15 does not have a user interface which would allow a user to directly input the WiFi key. Therefore, the WiFi enabled camera 15 is temporarily wire-connected to the computer 12 using an Ethernet cable 19 so that the user may use the computer's display and keyboard to provide the WiFi key to the WiFi enabled camera 15.
However, providing the WiFi key to the camera 15 is not necessarily a straightforward process. To do this, the user may need to first reset the computer 12 to a new IP address, such as 192.168.0.10, that is within the same subnet as camera 15. The user would then open a browser on the computer 12 and go to IP address 192.168.0.1. The user may then select the WiFi access point and input the WiFi key using the computer 12. After providing the WiFi key to the WiFi enabled camera 15, the user may disconnect the wired-connection between the camera 15 and computer 12 and change the computer IP address back to its original IP address.
As a simpler alternative to the approach described above, the WiFi enabled camera 15 may be temporarily wire-connected to the WiFi router 13 instead of the computer 12. In this alternative conventional approach, special installation software, which will simplify the camera installation procedure, is installed on the computer 12. After the WiFi enabled camera 15 is installed or connected to the WiFi network 10, the wire-connection between the WiFi enabled camera 15 and the WiFi router 13 is removed. Although simpler than the first approach described above, this approach still requires the use of an Ethernet cable, which not only adds to the cost and inconvenience of the installation, but may be problematic when the WiFi enabled camera 15 has already been physically mounted in a location that is not easily accessible and distant from the computer 12 and/or WiFi router 13. This may often be the case when the WiFi enabled camera 15 is to be used for surveillance purposes in a home security system.
As a still simpler alternative to the approaches described above, the WiFi Protective Setup (WPS) is a computing standard that attempts to allow easy establishment of a WiFi network. A conventional method using the standard is a push-button method in which the user clicks a button on both the WiFi router 13 and the WiFi enabled device within a certain period of time. The WiFi router 13 would then pass the WiFi key to the WiFi enabled device and add the device to the WiFi network 10. Although simple to use and implement, WPS has been shown to be vulnerable to brute-force attacks. A major security flaw has also been revealed that allows a remote attacker to recover the WiFi key. As a result, users have been urged to turn off the WPS feature on their WiFi routers.
Even if the user is able to properly perform one of the above procedures, the addition of a new WiFi enabled device to the WiFi network may still be thwarted if the user forgets the WiFi key. Keeping track of the WiFi key may be even more difficult if, for security reasons, the WiFi key is periodically changed. Because of this record keeping problem, users are hesitant to change the WiFi key as recommended for security reasons. As a consequence, the WiFi network is more vulnerable to a remote attacker of the network.